


Scientifically Yours

by winter_writes



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Autistic Entrapta (She-Ra), Body Image, Canon Autistic Character, Canon Disabled Character, Chronic Illness, Don't copy to another site, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Insecurity, Kissing, Marriage Proposal, Mild Angst, Smooching, Wedding Planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-23
Updated: 2020-05-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:15:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24341923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winter_writes/pseuds/winter_writes
Summary: Hordak wants to marry Entrapta.But first, he’s going to have to propose.
Relationships: Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 318





	Scientifically Yours

For most of his life, Hordak hadn’t known about marriage. Clones had no life outside of serving Prime, so he hadn’t even heard the word until he’d come to Etheria. 

While he was on Etheria, it had taken him some time to fully understand what marriage was, eventually realising that it was a promise to love a person exclusively for the rest of your life. 

He had filed it away in his mind as just another Etherian custom, and had thought no more of it. 

Until now. 

* 

“Entrapta, you know that I love you very much, and…” Hordak trailed off. It didn’t sound right. 

He’d been pacing up and down one of Crypto Castle’s spare rooms for well over half an hour now, trying to rehearse his proposal. 

He took a breath, let it out, and tried again. 

“Entrapta, these past few years I’ve spent with you have been the happiest of my life. I…” He didn’t know what to say after that. 

Hordak growled in frustration. 

“Entrapta, will you marry me?” 

No, that wouldn’t work. Too short and not romantic enough. 

“Entrapta, you are the most enchanting person I have ever met, and I…” Hordak put his face in his hands. “No, no, that doesn’t sound right either.” 

He was fairly certain that Entrapta would say yes, no matter how he asked, but he still wanted to do it properly. She deserved a nice proposal. 

Hordak had thought about making an engagement ring for her, but in the end he’d decided against it. Rings weren’t Entrapta’s style. No, if – _when_ – he proposed to her, it would be a simple, but romantic, conversation. 

He’d been fine-tuning the joints in his exoskeleton suit for weeks. The last thing he needed was to get down on one knee only to find that he couldn’t get up again. But figuring out what to say wasn’t anywhere near as easy. 

And he wanted to marry Entrapta. He really did. 

To some people, it might seem superfluous. If they were married, they wouldn’t make any changes to their living arrangements whatsoever. Like now, they would spend their days working on tech and their nights curled up against each other in bed. 

But there was something about _being married._ The fact that they would both stand up in front of a group of people and promise to love and cherish each other for the rest of their lives. 

He wanted that for them, wanted it dearly. 

But first, he would have to propose to Entrapta. 

* 

An hour later, and he was still doing no better. He had moved on from his failed speeches and started to worry about the when and the where of the proposal. 

In their workshop at the end of the day? 

Too commonplace. 

During a romantic dinner? 

They mostly ate in the lab in between experiments. 

On a hilltop watching the sunset? 

Entrapta would spend the entire walk to the top asking him why he wanted to go up there. It might be right for some couples, but not for them. 

Hordak sighed. At this rate, he’d never ask her. 

* 

“Uh, Hordak? Can I come in?” 

Hordak looked up from the tech he’d been working on to see Entrapta standing in the doorway. “This is our shared laboratory. You know that you never need to ask permission to enter.” 

“Uh-huh. I’m not interrupting anything, right? You’re not busy?” 

Hordak set down his screwdriver and turned his chair to face her. “Not at all.” 

“Good, good.” She fussed with her gloves. Come to think of it, she looked uncharacteristically worried. 

“Entrapta, is everything alright?” 

“Yes, yes everything’s fine.” She gave a nervous laugh, then cleared her throat, her next words coming out in a rush. “It’s just that, I have been thinking lately, that things would be nice if we got married. To each other.” 

Time seemed to stand still. Hordak felt as if he were disconnected from his body. 

Entrapta grimaced. “Uh, Hordak? Are you going to say something? Did I do it wrong, should I have asked differently?” 

He shook himself mentally. “No, not at all. I have been… thinking the same thing. For quite a while.” 

The worry vanished from her face. She beamed at him, and tackled him with a hug. “Great! We’re going to get married!” 

The full magnitude of what had just happened startled him. 

He was engaged. 

To Entrapta. 

He was _engaged to Entrapta._

He tried to put the feeling into words, but failed to come up with anything. 

He should say something to her. Something appropriately romantic. 

He couldn’t say anything. 

Entrapta didn’t seem to mind his silence. She was still sitting on his lap, hugging him and laughing, and Hordak realised that he was hugging her back and laughing too, happiness and shock in equal measure. 

Later, after they had progressed from cuddling to kissing, he found the word he’d been looking for: euphoria. 

* 

Entrapta had taken to wedding planning very enthusiastically. Within a few weeks she had planned the guest list, the menu (exclusively tiny food), and had started work on an attachment that would allow Emily to be the ring bearer. 

Hordak was surprised by how many people had already RSVP-ed. 

Scorpia had of course agreed to come, and Adora had sent him a very nice letter saying that she would be there too. (In a twist of fate that had surprised both of them at the time, Adora and Hordak had settled into an easy friendship. It would be good to have her there.) 

Adora would be bringing Catra, Bow, and Glimmer, and Scorpia would be bringing Perfuma and someone called Huntara whom Hordak had never met but he’d been assured he would like. Even Double Trouble had agreed to come; they would never dream of missing out on such an exclusive event. 

Hordak had told Entrapta that an invitation sent to Salineas would be a waste of paper, but Mermista had written back saying that she would be there because ‘If Geek Princess doesn’t want to find anyone better than Lord Hordak, then she might as well marry him’. 

Entrapta had also picked out her wedding outfit: a white suit paired with a pale lilac top. 

Which mean that Hordak had to find something to wear. 

He made a face at himself in the mirror. 

The dress was fine. White satin, backless, the skirt slit up one side. Perfect in its simplicity. 

It had looked lovely enough on the peg, but now that he was wearing it… 

Hordak would never have been able to wear a wedding gown over his usual suit, so he’d made himself a slimmer, lighter version; more like a brace that wrapped around each limb and supported his torso, wrought in gleaming gunmetal grey. 

It was far subtler than any other suit he’d worn before, but underneath the dress it seemed so… obvious. He kept staring at the places where the brace disrupted the flow of the fabric. And as for the rest of him… 

Hordak was suddenly very aware that all the people they’d invited to their wedding were going to see him like this. 

Without his suit. 

With only a few flimsy pieces of metal helping him stand upright. 

His suit gave the illusion that he had about four times more muscle mass than he actually had, and the guests would be seeing him as he was for the first time: painfully thin, all jutting bones and discoloured skin. The back left his ports exposed, and his arms were bare. 

He’d never left his arms bare before. Everyone would see the gap between the bones, the vitiligo, the black veins under unnaturally white skin. 

The beautiful, soft satin bunched under his fists. He couldn’t do this. 

He’ll find another dress, something loose, no slit up the side, long sleeves to hide his arms, a high neck to hide the ports in his back. Then, maybe, _maybe_ , he’d actually be able to face walking down the aisle. 

It was at that moment that Entrapta walked in. “So I was thinking about the decorations, and I wanted to run some stuff past you because – oh.” 

She looked at him. 

And looked. 

And looked. 

Was she going to stand and stare all day? 

Hordak cleared his throat. “Yes, I know, it’s not right for me. I’m going to find something different to wear.” 

Entrapta sounded slightly dazed. “Not… right?” 

“I know you’ve always said that imperfection is beautiful, but sometimes it –” His shoulders slumped, “Isn’t.” 

She still sounded somewhat dreamy. “But Hordak, you look beautiful!” She went over to him, wrapped an arm around his waist and turned him gently until he was facing himself in the mirror again. “Just look at yourself.” 

Hordak looked. 

And looked. 

He tried to stop looking at himself in parts, tried to stop focusing in on the individual imperfections and see himself as the whole. 

The way Entrapta was looking at him made it easier. 

She’d never lied to him. There was nothing in her gaze except pure, honest love. 

And if Entrapta thought he was beautiful, then perhaps he was. 

Perhaps there was something pleasing about the way the dress silhouetted his figure. The slit up the side did add a certain something to the look. 

He envisioned himself walking down the aisle, pictured white and purple rose petals, pictured Entrapta holding his hand in front of all their friends. 

It wasn’t quite as terrifying as it had been at first. 

Hordak squared his shoulders. “On second thoughts, I think I _will_ wear this.” 

Entrapta grinned. “I knew you’d see it.” 

She stretched up on her hair to kiss his cheek, and he responded by putting an arm around her and kissing her properly. She smiled against his mouth. 

Hordak turned back to his reflection, and his reflection was smiling. “Still,” he said, “I think it needs something more. A cloak, perhaps. Gossamer, so that the dress can still be seen to full effect.” 

“Ooh,” said Entrapta. “I like the sound of that.”

**Author's Note:**

> And then they got married!
> 
> I definitely enjoyed writing the moment when Entrapta saw Hordak and went speechless a little too much.
> 
> Hordak’s dress is based off the drawing Noelle Stevenson did of the ‘Mass wedding’, and also off huv-bitb’s excellent fanart.
> 
> This story sort of follows on from one of my other fics, Mechanically Yours.
> 
> Comments and kudos = love
> 
> Disclaimer: I do now own the characters. I am not making money from this work.


End file.
